Was at a loss why he wasn’t subbed today
2 Likes
I think he was ineffective, but I’m not sure it was so much him not playing well as much as how well Wolves were neutralising him?
It’s not just Wolves , he rarely gets past his man whoever we’re playing.
2 Likes
He doesn’t need to get past his man to play well. He needs to use his smarts, be diligent in his responsibilities and be sharp on the ball. None of which he did yesterday.
Chiesa or someone else should have got at least 20 minutes in his place.
Posting this not as a rebuttal to anyone. It’s to highlight I think the fact that he did not play well last night can coexist with that he is still one of the best in the PL.
I also think at his age, minutes definitely need to be managed. But Salah is an intelligent player, there is a very good chance he can adapt himself to reinvent himself to stay relevant even if he loses some pace.
5 Likes
4 in 6 suggests he is still one of the best. Agree he’s lost a step and already adapted his game - becoming more of a provider over the last few years than he was his first couple with us (we at times his passing was shockingly bad).
Still draws a ton of attention from defenses which helps the team, but time is inevitable and I don’t think there is much question he is one the downside. I’d expect to see him subbed more this year than in the past.
2 Likes
And also 5 goals and 4 assists in 8 games is up there as an excellent record, which he does season in season out. He may jolly well fade away this season onwards but I am excited to see how he reinvents himself
3 Likes
I remember reading during last season, where the data supposedly showed that Salah had lost power in his shots. There wasn’t much else, but perhaps an indication of a decline. Whether that decline is large enough for the club to balk at offering a contract, or maybe open talks for a short extension, I don’t know.
Like @gasband says, you can still think he’s one of the best in the PL. You just know he’ll show amazing moments of play, and then be really involved in a few games, and we’ll suddenly be demanding an extension. He’ll then look off it, and we’ll think, ‘yeah, I can see why the club haven’t slapped a contract in front of him.’
I’m just going to enjoy having him here this season, and whatever happens contract wise, we’ll wait and see.
2 Likes
It certainly seems that way. He’s had 4 or so other chances this season similar to the one he scored against utd - running onto a ball and opening up his body to hit it with his left - and fluffed them all by just not getting any power on the shot. His goal against utd wasn’t any better and only went in because Onana is terrible
Yeah the goals/assists are only masking the decline to those who haven’t actually watched him - I think he is actually in ‘good form’ so far and if/when he hits a rough patch he’ll really look ineffectual without that extra pace/power. TAA is perplexing but it doesn’t surprise me that the club haven’t yet offered Mo a contract to his liking. We should enjoy what’s left of his time with us and hopefully he can go out a winner
Salah has suffered a lot since the inverted move and if you want to go further back, the knock on effect from both Fab and Hendo’s legs inconveniently giving way.
He’s isolated on that right side and the balance is wrong for it to be effective. The invert means he’s having to drop deeper than usual to get hold of the ball, then has the weight on his shoulders to produce something, there is no Trent or Szobo
to overlap for him anymore to pull a defender away and make space for him so he’s got the ball out wide, almost near the halfway line with nowhere to go and usually 2-3 opposition players around him. It’s not that difficult to see why he’s losing the ball so often.
That’s not where you want him, especially a 32 year old him. Get him higher up and boot Trent up the arse to get closer in support of him.
I’m very satisfied with how he started the season, I don’t see much problems with how we use him.
People like Slot and Diaz in past days have mentioned he still has the freedom to position himself a bit higher than the left sided winger. Depends on the moment/phase of the game also.
Now, when we defend (and often drop into more of a mid-block), he’s now part of the middle line, doing what’s needed. And doing it surprisingly better than I expected so far.
Him crashing into opponents, misplacing some passes and the odd technical brainfart is nothing new, there will always be a % of that in his game (who doesn’t have it). It was clear in all seasons, since his first with 44 goals to now.
He’s a physical, mental and goalscoring monster. Sometimes able to go past a few players (when he’s coming at pace). But often struggling to get past the first one when it comes to clean, technical dribling. He cannot be top in everything. His less good aspects have always been clear, at least to me.
Main thing is that I feel the whole team has bought into what Slot is trying to do. Keeping a lot of our past principles and this is a team with brilliant core habits. But maybe realizing that more control (not having to chase and destroy everything that moves at all moments by default) and more injury prevention might help us reach our targets.
4 Likes
I mean I don’t view his performances as being any worse than many of his performances from even seasons ago. That said, the physical attributes are definitely not as good as they used to be, but he seems to be compensating well for that, by just using himself as a decoy at times rather than actually trying to go in for the shot.
I’d say the only thing he’s disappointed me in lately is that his shots just don’t seem to have the placement they used to have. I feel as though it’s been a long time since he’s scored a goal like he used to, cutting in and hitting the top corner (see his goal against Alisson in 2018). In fact, that Núñez goal from whichever game it was (I can’t really remember off the top of my head) recently, was what I feel we used to see from Salah.
2 Likes
As far as Mo goes , I think teams doubling up on him is enabling the others to break free and score like Diaz.
All it takes is for goals to flow in from other areas for Mo to get the goals as well.
He’s been guilty of a few weak shots etc when his decision making could have been better. But he’ll work through that.
1 Like
Mo Samson. 
2 Likes
Haha ‘leave what’
1 Like
Salah this season so far:
9 games
6 goals
5 assists
We keep being reminded that he’s past his best. But he’s still fucking brilliant!
10 Likes
Yes, like last season his stats are excellent but he is failing the eye test with him giving away possession too easily the majority of the time. It becomes an issue when opportunities and chances are limited against better opposition
4 Likes
Thing is he will only play the best teams about 8 times a season.
Probably a couple more this time out due to the CL but effectively you’ll take someone who can get you that crucial creation or goal.
1 Like
This is my feeling as well. I want to state from the outset that I don’t think he’s past it by any stretch, but I think it’s clear how we are using the wider forwards this year where they may receive the ball deeper and very wide, and instead of being asked to take the ball and run, we have opportunities instead to pass into the middle. This is the part where Mo is failing the eye test: further away from goal, being asked to connect up play. Lots of turnovers from him and often the simplest of passes that he’s failing. I don’t think that’s his natural game that far away from goal.
But as we see from his stats, he’s been lethal the closer he is to the box - invaluable goals and assists. You can still bank on him getting or setting up.
For me the contract situation is simple: if we have ideas for a suitable replacement for him (keep in mind we aren’t looking for someone who is replacing ‘18/19 Mo’ but ‘Arne’s System Mo’ so there may be ‘better’ options on the market) then we should explore that.
But I do reserve the right to lose my shit when it turns out the top quality replacement draws out the transfer for a month and for us fans to find out he’s been tapped up by RM